1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to container systems for storing materials, and more particularly to containers adapted for engaging a mating closure having a tamper-evident ring.
2. Background Art
Containers having a closure, or cap, for sealing the container are known in the art, especially containers of the type used for storing consumable materials such as nutritional formula or dietary supplements. Closures for sealing containers in many applications include a threaded cap shaped for engaging threads on the container. Such closures in some applications include a tamper-evident ring frangibly attached to the closure. When the closure is initially screwed onto the container, the tamper-evident ring slips past one or more retaining structures. When the closure is loosened, or unscrewed, from the container for the first time, the tamper-evident ring engages the one or more retaining structures on the container. If the closure is rotated further, the tamper-evident ring continues to engage the retaining structure and is broken away from the closure, indicating to a consumer or user that the container has been opened. In many conventional tamper-evident ring configurations, the tamper-evident ring remains on the container following removal of the closure.
Some conventional containers include a retaining structure forming an annular rim, or bead, extending around the perimeter of the container neck for engaging the tamper-evident ring and for retaining the tamper-evident ring on the container after the closure is initially removed. In some conventional configurations, the tamper-evident ring is attached to the closure, or cap, by one or more frangible bridges. The annular rim in such conventional configurations engages the tamper-evident ring as the closure is unscrewed, causing the frangible bridges to experience a force as the cap is moved axially with respect to the container. Axial movement of the tamper-evident ring is generally restricted by the annular rim, or bead, as the cap is unscrewed, and the resulting force causes the frangible bridges to break. Generally, some other conventional configurations do not allow the tamper-evident ring to slip, or rotate, around the container neck as the closure is unscrewed. As such, conventional configurations of this type require the multiple frangible bridges to be broken simultaneously as the closure is initially unscrewed. Simultaneous breakage of all frangible bridges, as required by conventional configurations, requires an undesirable amount of initial user-applied torque for opening the container.
Containers for storing some consumable materials, such as nutritional formula or dietary supplements, are typically sealed with a cap, or closure, to prevent contamination and/or leakage of the stored product. In many applications, containers are filled with the stored product prior to sealing the closure on the container. In some conventional applications, the filled container and closure together are subjected to a sterilization and sealing, or retort, process wherein heat and/or pressure are applied to the exterior of a pre-filled container and closure. Many conventional container configurations allow the container to rotate relative to the closure during the retort process. Such rotation, or “backoff,” is undesirable and may affect the seal integrity and/or the sterilization of the container and the stored product. To prevent possible backoff during retort processing, some conventional containers include one or more ratchet teeth positioned on the container neck. The ratchet teeth typically engage mating ring teeth on the tamper-evident ring. The ring teeth slide, or ratchet, past the ratchet teeth when the closure is initially screwed onto the container for the first time. The ring teeth subsequently engage the ratchet teeth when the closure is unscrewed, thereby preventing reverse angular rotation of the tamper-evident ring and “locking” the tamper-evident ring relative to the container during the retort process.
While conventional ratchet teeth container configurations may prevent rotation between the closure and the container during retort processing, such configurations also require excessive amounts of user-applied removal torque for breaking the frangible bridges that connect the tamper-evident ring to the closure.
Thus, there is a continuing need in the art for improvements in various aspects of containers, closures and container systems of the types discussed above.